The Advanced Photo System ("APS") is a new process in the field of photography. With the APS, information regarding the film speed, emulsion details and photograph length are magnetically recorded on the film. When a photograph is being taken, the camera "reads" or detects the information on the film and, if appropriate under the circumstances, automatically adds exposure information to correct for lighting errors. These corrections result in better photo-finishing.
Using the APS, a photographer will be able to preselect the size of the finished photographic print prior to taking the photo. This feature will allow an individual to take photos of differing sizes using the same roll of film.
Print information is digitized on the film and the developed film is stored in the film canister in which such film was originally purchased. As a result, the consumer will no longer be receiving the familiar film strips, commonly called "negatives." Instead, APS users will be provided with an index card--much like a proof sheet--along with their printed photographs. The index card will show miniversions of all of the photo exposures on a particular roll of film. Because the developed film will be returned in its original canister, a new device is needed that will allow the consumer to conveniently store the film canister and index print together in an organized manner. At least one reason such convenience is desirable is so that when ordering additional prints, the proper film canister to return for additional processing, i.e., production of additional prints, can quickly and accurately be identified.
Given the diminutive size and cylindrical shape of the APS film canister, most consumers will likely find it cumbersome to store their flat, sheet-like photographs together with the canister. To put it in other words, there is a high probability that the film canister will become separated not just from its photographs, but more importantly from its flat, sheet-like index print as well. Several canisters may become co-mingled thus making it difficult to identify which film canister was used to generate a particular photograph or set of photographs.
Because the index print that is returned along with the APS canister is the only way to identify which photographs are digitized in the canister, it is very important that such index print and canister--and only a single index print and its matching canister--be stored together. Therefore, an apparatus that would allow an individual to store several APS film canisters and their respective index prints in an organized manner would be an important advancement in the art.